er eall Engleland waeron thaes
mannes men the hi waeron and ealle hi bugon to him and waeron his men,
and him hold athas sworon thaet he woldon ongean ealle other men him
holde beon.'"

Mr. Stubbs had, in degree, adopted the view at which I had arrived, that
the law or charter of William I. was an injunction to enforce the oath
of allegiance, previously ordered by the laws of Edward the Confessor,
to be taken by all FREEMEN, and that it did not relate to vassals, or
alter the existing feudalism.

As the subject possesses considerable interest for the general reader
as well as the learned historian, I think it well to place the two
authorities side by side, that the text may be compared:

LII. William I., as given by Eadments. "De fide et obsequio erga Regnum.

"Statuimus etiam ut omnes LIBERI HOMINES foedere et sacramento affirment
quod intra et extra univereum regnum Anglise (quod olim vocabatur regnum
Britanniae) Wilhielmo suo domino fideles ease volunt, terras et honores
ilius fidelitate ubique servare cum eo et contra inimicos et alienigenas
defendere."

Charter from Textus Roffensis, given by Mr. Stubbs.

"Statuimus etiam ut omnis liber homo feodere et sacramento affirmet,
quod intra et extra Angliam. Willelmo regi fideles ease volunt, terras
et honorem illius omni fidelitate cum eo servare et ante eum contra
inimicos defendere."

I think the documents I have quoted show that Sir Martin Wright, Sir
William Blackstone, and Messrs. Hallam and FREEMAN, labored under a
mistake in supposing that William had introduced or imposed a new feudal
law, or that the vassals of a lord swore allegiance to the king. The
introduction to the laws of William I. shows that it was not a new
enactment, or a Norman custom introduced into England, and the law
itself proves that it relates to FREEMEN, and not to vassals.

The misapprehension of these authors may have arisen in this way:
William I. had two distinct sets of subjects. The NORMANS, who had
taken the oath of allegiance on obtaining investiture, and whose
retinue included vassals; and the ANGLO-SAXONS, among whom vassalage was
unknown, who were FREEMAN (LIBERI HOMINES) as distinguished from serfs.
The former comprised those in possesion of Odhal (noble) land, whether
held from the crown or its tenants. It was quite unnecessary to convoke
the Normans and their vassals, while the assemblage of the Saxons--OMNES
LIBERI HOMINES--was not only to conformity with the laws of E